Method and apparatus to detect configuration information for a digital subscriber line device

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus to detect configuration information that may be used to configure a permanent virtual circuit (PVC) between a digital subscriber line (DSL) customer premise equipment (CPE) and a DSL access module (DSLAM) is described.

BACKGROUND

As reliance on network communications increases, so does the desire forhigh-speed network access. One popular technique for providinghigh-speed network access is digital subscriber line (DSL) technology.DSL technology may be implemented with reduced infrastructure coststhrough the use of conventional twisted-pair copper wires, which arealready present in many homes and offices. As a result of the manyadvantages offered by DSL technology, there may be a substantial needfor new and improved DSL technologies to further enhance theseadvantages while overcoming conventional limitations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The subject matter regarded as embodiments of the invention isparticularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concludingportion of the specification. Embodiments of the invention, however,both as to organization and method of operation, together with objects,features, and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference tothe following detailed description when read with the accompanyingdrawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a system suitable for practicing one embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a probing module in accordance with oneembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a first block flow diagram of the programming logic that maybe performed by a probing module in accordance with one embodiment ofthe invention.

FIG. 4 is a second block flow diagram of programming logic that may beperformed by a probing module in accordance with one embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 5 is a third block flow diagram of programming logic that may beperformed by a probing module in accordance with one embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 6 is a fourth block flow diagram of programming logic that may beperformed by a probing module in accordance with one embodiment of theinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the invention may comprise a method and apparatus toautomatically detect configuration information for a DSL device. Forexample, the embodiments of the invention may automatically detectconfiguration information that may be used to configure a permanentvirtual circuit (PVC) between a DSL customer premise equipment (CPE) anda DSL access module (DSLAM). This may be advantageous, for example, whendifferent providers produce the DSL CPE and DSLAM. In this situation,the DSL CPE and DSLAM may not share the same PVC configurationinformation. Conventional techniques to handle this mismatch areunsatisfactory for a number of reasons, as detailed further below.

In this detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth inorder to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood by those skilled in the art, however,that the embodiments of the invention may be practiced without thesespecific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures,components and circuits have not been described in detail so as not toobscure the embodiments of the invention. It can be appreciated that thespecific structural and functional details disclosed herein may berepresentative and do not necessarily limit the scope of the invention.

An embodiment of the invention may include functionality that may beimplemented as software executed by a processor, hardware circuits orstructures, or a combination of both. The processor may be ageneral-purpose or dedicated processor, such as a processor from thefamily of processors made by Intel Corporation, Motorola Incorporated,Sun Microsystems Incorporated and others. The software may compriseprogramming logic, instructions or data to implement certainfunctionality for an embodiment of the invention. The software may bestored in a medium accessible by a machine or computer-readable medium,such as read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), magneticdisk (e.g., floppy disk and hard drive), optical disk (e.g., CD-ROM) orany other data storage medium. In one embodiment of the invention, themedia may store programming instructions in a compressed and/orencrypted format, as well as instructions that may have to be compiledor installed by an installer before being executed by the processor.Alternatively, an embodiment of the invention may be implemented asspecific hardware components that contain hard-wired logic forperforming the recited functionality, or by any combination ofprogrammed general-purpose computer components and custom hardwarecomponents.

It is worthy to note that any reference in the specification to “oneembodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature,structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodimentis included in at least one embodiment of the invention. The appearancesof the phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in the specificationare not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.

Referring now in detail to the drawings wherein like parts aredesignated by like reference numerals throughout, there is illustratedin FIG. 1 a system suitable for practicing one embodiment of theinvention. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system 100 comprising a CPE102 connected to a DSLAM 106 via connection 104. DSLAM 106 may beconnected to a network device, such as router 110 via connection 108.CPE refers to a device located at a client or customer location, whichmay comprise hardware and/or software to communicate over a network toanother device. Examples of CPE may include a DSL or asymmetric DSL(ADSL) router, a DSL or ADSL bridge, a DSL or ADSL modem, and so forth.The term “CPE” as used herein may refer to both CPE and DSL CPE. In oneembodiment of the invention, CPE 102 may comprise a DSL CPE. The termDSL CPE as used herein may refer to any DSL device that is located at acustomer or client location. DSLAM 106 may be located, for example, at atelephone central office (TELCO).

A user may establish a DSL connection between CPE 102 and DSLAM 106using a number of well-known protocols, such as a High-level Data LinkControl (HDLC), International Organization for Standardization, ISO/IEC3309, adopted in 1993, Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) layerspecification, International Telecommunication Union (ITU)Recommendation I.361, adopted in February 1999 (“ATM Specification”),Asynchronous Transfer Mode Forum and Frame-based User-Network Interface(ATM FUNI), The ATM Forum Technical Committee, defined in Frame BasedUser-To-Network Interface Specification v2.0, AF-SAA-0088.000, July1997. DSL CPE and DSLAMS are typically configured to communicate usingone or more such protocols.

The ATM protocol as described in the ATM Specification is becomingincreasingly popular for use in high-speed networks, particularly asused in combination with DSL technology. ATM is a connection-orientatedprotocol and as such there is a connection identifier in every cellheader that explicitly associates a cell with a given virtual channel ona physical link. The connection identifier may consist of twosub-fields, the virtual channel identifier (VCI) and the virtual pathidentifier (VPI). Together, the VCI and VPI are used in multiplexing,de-multiplexing and switching a cell through the network. VCIs and VPIsare not necessarily addresses. They may be explicitly assigned at eachsegment (link between ATM nodes) of a connection when a connection isestablished, and remain for the duration of the connection. Using theVCI/VPI the ATM layer can asynchronously interleave (multiplex) cellsfrom multiple connections.

An ATM connection may be of two types, often referred to as a permanentvirtual circuit (PVC) and a switched virtual circuit (SVC). A SVC may bea temporary virtual circuit that is set up and used only as long as datais being transmitted. Once the communication between the two hosts iscomplete, the SVC disappears. By way of contrast, a PVC remainsavailable at all times.

During the initial deployment of a CPE 102, it may be desirable toconfigure a PVC between CPE 102 and DSLAM 106. Certain configurationinformation may be needed to configure the PVC between CPE 102 and DSLAM106. The configuration information may comprise, for example, a VCI andVPI as described above.

As mentioned previously, a problem may arise due to a mismatch inconfiguration information provisioned in the CPE and DSLAM. Frequently,the CPE and DSLAM are made by different vendors, and therefore do notprovision their equipment with the same configuration information. Forexample, the VCI and VPI values stored in the CPE may not be the sameVCI and VPI values stored in the DSLAM. As a result, when a new CPE isdeployed at a user location, a PVC between the CPE and DSLAM may not beconfigured absent some external mechanism. For example, a user may haveto manually enter the configuration information for the CPE, which mayoften be a tedious and time-consuming process, particularly with a largenumber of CPE deployments.

Another attempt to handle this mismatch is to automatically configure(auto-configure) a PVC. The term “automatically configure,”“auto-configure,” and its variants may be defined herein to meanconfiguration of a PVC with limited human intervention. A number of PVCautomated configuration solutions currently exist, such as thosedescribed in the DSL Forum PVC Auto-Configuration StandardSpecification, TR-037, the ATM Forum Integrated Local ManagementInterface (ILMI) Specification, AF-ILMI-0065, the ATM Forum PVCAuto-Configuration Specification, AF-NM-0122. Another technique referredto as “PVC Hunting” may also be used to automatically configure a PVC.PVC Hunting entails having the CPE passively listen to the received cellstream and determine an active PVC and associated configurationinformation from good cell headers.

The embodiments of the invention may comprise a new PVCauto-configuration algorithm that may be used to detect configurationinformation for a CPE. In one embodiment of the invention, this may beaccomplished using a list of probe values (“VC Table”). The term “probevalues” as used herein may refer to values for a virtual circuit, suchas a PVC. The values may comprise, for example, a VCI and VPI. Testpackets may be sent using the probe values to a DSLAM. The term “testpackets” as used herein may include packets designed specifically fortesting purposes, and also packets sent between a CPE and DSLAM inaccordance with normal data flow, such as for a conventional protocol.The DSLAM may reject or drop packets with unknown PVC values. If theDSLAM receives a packet with recognized PVC values, the DSLAM may send aresponse packet to the originating CPE. Alternatively, the DSLAM maypass the test packet to another network device attached to the samenetwork as the DSLAM and CPE, and the network device may send a responsepacket to the originating CPE. Examples of such network devices mightinclude a router, bridge, gateway, switch and so forth. Once theresponse packet is received, the CPE may retrieve the PVC configurationinformation from the header of the response packet. The CPE may thenconfigure the PVC using the retrieved configuration information.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a probing module in accordance with oneembodiment of the invention. FIG. 2 illustrates a probing module 200that may be implemented as part of, for example, CPE 102. Probing module200 may include an event management module 202, a detection module 204,an extraction module 206 and a configuration module 208. As statedpreviously, each of these modules may be implemented in software,hardware or a combination of both. Further, it can be appreciated thatthe functionality for probing module 200 may be implemented using moremodules, or by combining these modules into fewer modules, and stillfall within the scope of the invention.

During an initialization or start-up process for a CPE such as CPE 102,it may be determined that a PVC is desired to communicate with a DSLAM,such as DSLAM 106. To accomplish this, event management module 202 ofprobing module 200 may access a VC Table. The VC Table may include alist of probe values. In one embodiment of the invention the probesvalues may be, for example, a VCI and/or VPI. Event management module202 may use the VC Table to send test packets with different probevalues to a DSLAM, such as DSLAM 106. Detection module 204 may detect aresponse packet to one or more of the test packets. The response packetmay originate, for example, from DSLAM 106 or Router 110. The responsepacket may also include a header having configuration information for aPVC. Extraction module 206 may extract the configuration informationfrom the response packet, and pass the configuration information toconfiguration module 208. Configuration module 208 may use theconfiguration information to configure the PVC between the CPE andDSLAM.

The operations of systems 100 and 200 may be further described withreference to FIGS. 3-6 and accompanying examples. Although FIGS. 3-6presented herein may include a particular processing logic, it can beappreciated that the processing logic merely provides an example of howthe general functionality described herein can be implemented. Further,each operation within a given processing logic does not necessarily haveto be executed in the order presented unless otherwise indicated. In oneembodiment of the invention, the programming logic of FIGS. 3-6 may beimplemented using a processor and appropriate software comprisingcomputer program segments.

FIG. 3 is a first block flow diagram of the programming logic that maybe performed by a probing module in accordance with one embodiment ofthe invention. In one embodiment of the invention, the probing modulemay refer to the software and/or hardware used to implement thefunctionality for PVC auto-configuration as described herein. In thisembodiment of the invention, the probing module may be implemented aspart of CPE 102. It can be appreciated that this functionality, however,may be implemented by any device, or combination of devices, locatedanywhere in a communication network accessible by CPE 102 and DSLAM 106and still fall within the scope of the invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates a programming logic 300 to configure a networkdevice, such as a DSL CPE. A request to configure a first PVC between aDSL device and a DSLAM is received at block 302. The first PVC isautomatically configured using a list of probe values stored as part ofthe VC Table at block 304. An example of a VC Table is shown below asTable 1.

TABLE 1 Probe Value Index VPI (N) VCI (M) Probe Value [0, 0] 0 35 ProbeValue [1, 1] 0 32 Probe Value [N, M] 1 1As shown in Table 1, a probe value may comprise a VPI and a VCI.Different CPE vendors may use different VPI and VCI values. For example,Probe Value [0, 0] may include a VPI=0 and a VCI=35. This is the defaultvalues used with CPE equipment provided by Alcatel. In another example,Probe Value [1, 1] may include a VPI=0 and a VCI=32, which are thedefault values used with CPE equipment provided by Siemens AG. In yetanother example, Probe Value [N, M] may include a VPI=1 and a VCI=1,which are the default values used with CPE equipment provided by CiscoSystems, Inc. A DSLAM, such as DSLAM 106, however, may not beprovisioned with these default values, therefore creating a potentialmismatch during the automatic configuration of a PVC between a CPE andDSLAM.

FIG. 4 is a second block flow diagram of programming logic that may beperformed by a probing module in accordance with one embodiment of theinvention. FIG. 4 illustrates a programming logic 400. Programming logic400 is an example of how the first PVC may be automatically configured.Test packets may be sent to a DSLAM, with each test packet having aprobe value from the VC Table, at block 402. A response packet to one ofthe test packets may be received at block 404. Configuration informationmay be retrieved from the response packet at block 406. The PVC may beconfigured using the retrieved configuration information.

FIG. 5 is a third block flow diagram of programming logic that may beperformed by a probing module in accordance with one embodiment of theinvention. FIG. 5 illustrates a programming logic 500. Programming logic500 is an example of test packets may be sent by, for example, a probingmodule such as probing module 200. A probe value may be retrieved from alist of probe values stored in the VC Table at block 502. In oneembodiment of the invention the probe value may represent a virtualcircuit as identified by a VPI and/or VCI. The virtual circuit may beenabled at block 504. Once enabled, a test packet may be sent over thevirtual circuit at block 506.

In one embodiment of the invention, a response packet may indicate whichvirtual circuit is appropriate for use as a PVC. Therefore, thosevirtual circuits that were enabled but did not receive a response packetmay be disabled, thereby releasing resources that may be used for otherconnections.

In one embodiment of the invention, a CPE may use more than one PVC. Inthis case, configuration module 208 of probing module 200 may be used toconfigure multiple PVCs for the CPE. To configure multiple PVCs betweena CPE and DSLAM, the configuration module may need additionalinformation from a user of the CPE. The configuration module maytherefore also include a user interface to allow a user to accesscertain functionality for the probing module in general and theconfiguration module in particular, such as providing configurationinformation for one or more PVCs, modifying time out periods for the PVCauto-configuration process, disabling certain PVC auto-configurationfunctions, and so forth.

One embodiment of invention may be used to configure a second PVC asfollows. A request to configure a second PVC for said DSL device may bereceived, along with configuration information for the second PVC. Theconfiguration information may comprise, for example, a VCI and a VPI.The configuration module may then complete the configuration process forthe second PVC using the configuration information.

In one embodiment of the invention, a terminating condition may occurprior to completing configuration of the first PVC. In this case, thefirst PVC may be manually configured. For example, a notice messageindicating that the first PVC was not configured may be sent to a user.Configuration information for the first PVC may be received from theuser via the user interface.

FIG. 6 is a fourth block flow diagram of programming logic that may beperformed by a probing module in accordance with one embodiment of theinvention. FIG. 6 illustrates a programming logic 600. Programming logic600 begins by waiting for a detection start request at block 602. Block602 may be an idle state waiting to receive a request to being probingfor configuration information. A detection start request may be receivedat block 604. The detection start request may originate from ainitialization sub-routine that is executed, for example, upon start-upof a CPE. Once the detection start request is received, the probingmodule may begin the probing and configuration process by enablingtransmit (Tx) and receive (Rx) functions for all virtual circuits asrepresented by probe values in the VC Table at block 606.

Programming logic 600 may invoke a monitoring sub-routine at block 608.The monitoring sub-routine may wait for a predefined event, such asreceipt of a response packet or configuration packet from a DSLAM, forexample. A determination is made at block 610 as to whether an event hasbeen detected. If no events have been detected, a request to send testpackets may be sent to block 612. The test packets may be, for example,ATM adaptation layer (AAL) protocol data units (PDUs). Block 612 mayinitiate the broadcasting of transmit AAL PDUs to the DSLAM on allvirtual circuits as represented by probe values stored as part of the VCTable. In the event of a terminating condition, such as a time-out, adetection reset request may be forwarded to block 602 at block 610.

The test packets may be received by the DSLAM. The DSLAM may discard anyinvalid test packets, such as those test packets received on unknownvirtual circuits. The DSLAM may then forward the test packet to anothernetwork device on the configured virtual circuit. The network device maybe part of the backbone network, such as router 110, for example. Therouter 110 on the backbone network may respond to the test packet in theform of an AAL PDU, and the response may be forwarded to the DSLAM, andfrom the DSLAM to the CPE on the configured virtual circuit. The CPE maynow be able to detect the configured virtual circuit through thereceived AAL PDU. Alternatively, the DSLAM may send the response packetto the originating CPE without passing it to another network device.

Once the test packets or PDUs are sent to the DSLAM at block 612, themonitoring sub-routine at block 608 may wait for a predefined event,such as receipt of a response packet to one of the test packets. Themonitoring sub-routine may listen for received AAL PDUs on the same listof virtual circuits used to send the test packets. A determination ismade at block 610 as to whether a response packet has been received. Ifa response packet has been received, a message is passed to block 614that a response packet has been received, and the virtual circuit overwhich it was received. The response packet or PDU is forwarded toanother sub-routine on a different networking layer, and may be used tovalidate and store configuration information to establish a PVC for theCPE. The detecting process may be terminated at block 616. The Tx and RXfunctions for all virtual circuits that did not receive a responsepacket may also be disabled or turned off at block 616. Finally, amessage may be sent to permanently enable the virtual circuit (VCx) thatreceived a response packet at block 616, and control may be passed toblock 602 for the next detection start request.

The operation of systems 100 and 200, and the processing logic shown inFIGS. 3-6 may be better understood by way of example. Assume a CPE isscheduled for deployment. The CPE may be, for example, a CPE to deliverATM over DSL, such as a DSL/ATM router, an ADSL/ATM router, a DSL/ATMbridge, an ADSL/ATM bridge, a DSL or ADSL modem, and so forth. The DSLCPE is connected to a TELCO DSLAM over a communications medium, such astwisted-pair copper wire. Power is delivered to the DSL CPE, and aninitialization routine is started. Part of the initialization routinemay be to detect whether a PVC has been configured for the DSL CPE. Ifthere is no PVC configured for the DSL CPE, a request to configure a PVCbetween the DSL CPE and the DSLAM is sent to probing module 200. Uponreceiving the configuration request, event management module 202 ofprobing module 200 may access probe values stored in a VC Table, such asthe VC Table illustrated as Table 1. Event management module 202 mayenable virtual circuits represented by the probe values, and beginsending test packets to the DSLAM using the probe values. For example,probe value [1, 1] would be used to construct a virtual circuit, withthe virtual circuit being identified with a VPI of 0 and a VCI of 35.

Detection module 204 may remain in an idle state and monitor forresponse packet(s) from the DSLAM or some other network device (e.g.,router 100). Once a response packet is received, detection module 204may notify extraction module 206 of the response packet. Detectionmodule 204 may perform some clean-up operations as well, such asshutting down or disabling those virtual circuits that did not receive aresponse packet. For example, if a response packet was received over thevirtual circuit having a VPI of 0 and VCI of 35, all other virtualcircuits may be disable to release resources for other connections.

Extraction module 206 may be used to extract configuration informationresulting from receipt of a response packet. The configurationinformation may be extracted, for example, from a cell header from theresponse packet. The configuration information may also be retrievedusing the probe values that were used to enable the virtual circuit thatreceived the response packet. Extraction module 206 may also validatethat the virtual circuit is a valid virtual circuit by sendingadditional test packets, of the same kind sent initially or of differenttypes to further test the connection.

Once validated, configuration module 208 may store the configurationinformation, and permanently activate and identify the virtual circuitidentified by the configuration information as the PVC between the CPEand DSLAM. Configuration module 208 may then send a message to a userindicating configuration is complete for the PVC. It is worthy to notethat the probing process may be executed during other times in additionto CPE initialization and still fall within the scope of the invention.For example, the probing process may be used to set up a PVC for aparticular session, or upon delivery of power to the CPE. The probingprocess may also be performed once, with the PVC configurationinformation being stored for subsequent sessions.

In one embodiment of the invention, a terminating condition may occurprior to completing configuration of the PVC. In this case, the PVC maybe manually configured. For example, a notice message indicating thatthe PVC was not configured may be sent to a user. Configurationinformation for the PVC may be received from the user via the userinterface. Configuration module 208 may use the configurationinformation to complete the PVC configuration process.

In some cases the DSL CPE will use multiple PVCs. In this case, theprobing module may configure multiple PVCs for the CPE. This may beaccomplished by having configuration information for the additional PVCsmanually configured using, for example, the user interface. For example,configuration module 208 may receive a request to configure a second PVCfor the DSL device, along with configuration information for the secondPVC. Upon detection of configuration information included as part of theconfiguration request, configuration module 208 may store theconfiguration information and active the second PVC. A PVC configurationcomplete message may then be sent to the user. This process may berepeated for any number of PVCs desired for a particular DSL CPE.

Broadcasting test packets may introduce additional load on acommunication line or network, and there may be a practical upper limiton the number of active virtual circuit probes that may be handled bythe network. During actual detection, the traffic may be limited sincethere are no logical connections established at this stage. In oneembodiment of the invention, the load in the transmit direction may becontrolled by conventional high water marks on the transmission queues,for example.

While certain features of the embodiments of the invention have beenillustrated as described herein, many modifications, substitutions,changes and equivalents will now occur to those skilled in the art. Itis, therefore, to be understood that the appended claims are intended tocover all such modifications and changes as fall within the true spiritof the embodiments of the invention.

1. A method to configure a network device, comprising: receiving arequest at a DSL access module (DSLAM) to configure a permanent virtualcircuit (PVC) between a digital subscriber line (DSL) device and saidDSLAM, said DSL device having a virtual circuit (VC) table with multipleprobe values, wherein said probe value represents a virtual circuit; andautomatically configuring said PVC using a list of probe values fromsaid VC table sent with test packets to probe for configurationinformation for said PVC, and using said configuration information toconfigure said PVC, wherein said probe values and said configurationinformation comprise a virtual channel identifier (VCI) and a virtualpath identifier (VPI); wherein said automatically configuring comprises:sending test packets to said DSLAM using said probe values; receiving aresponse packet to one of said test packets; retrieving saidconfiguration information from said response packet; configuring saidPVC using said retrieved configuration information; and furtherdisabling each virtual circuit that does not receive a response packet.2. The method of claim 1, wherein for each probe value in said VC tablesaid sending comprises: retrieving a probe value from said list of probevalues; enabling said virtual circuit; and sending a test packet oversaid virtual circuit.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving a request to configure a second PVC for said DSL device;receiving configuration information for said second PVC; and configuringsaid second PVC using said configuration information.
 4. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: determining that a terminating conditionhas occurred prior to automatically configuring said PVC; sending amessage that said PVC was not configured to a user; and receiving saidconfiguration information for said PVC from a user.
 5. A system toconfigure a network device, comprising: a digital subscriber line (DSL)customer premise equipment (CPE), said DSL CPE having a virtual circuit(VC) table with multiple probe values, wherein said probe valuerepresents a virtual circuit; a DSL access module (DSLAM) connected tosaid DSL CPE; and a DSL probing module to use said list of probe valuesfrom said VC table sent with test packets to said (DSLAM) to probe forconfiguration information for use in automatically configuring apermanent virtual circuit (PVC) between said DSL CPE and said DSLAM,wherein said probe values and said configuration information comprise avirtual channel identifier (VCI) and a virtual path identifier (VPI);wherein said automatically configuring comprises: sending test packetsto said DSLAM using said probe values; receiving a response packet toone of said test packets; retrieving said configuration information fromsaid response packet; configuring said PVC using said retrievedconfiguration information and further disabling each virtual circuitthat does not receive a response packet.
 6. The system of claim 5,wherein said DSL CPE comprises a DSL CPE consisting essentially one ofthe following: a DSL/asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) router, anasymmetric DSL (ADSL)/ATM router, a DSL/ATM bridge, an ADSL/ATM bridge,a DSL modem, and an ADSL modem.
 7. A probing module for a networkdevice, comprising: an event management module which accesses a virtualcircuit (VC) table that includes a list of probe values, wherein saidprobe value represents a virtual circuit, to automatically send testpackets using said probe values from a digital subscriber line (DSL)device to a DSL access module (DSLAM); a detection module to detect apacket received in response to at least one of said test packets and todisable each virtual circuit that does not receive a response packet; anextraction module to retrieve configuration information from saidreceived packet; and a configuration module to configure a permanentvirtual connection between said DSL and said DSLAM using saidconfiguration information, wherein said probe values and saidconfiguration information comprise a virtual channel identifier (VCI)and a virtual path identifier (VPI).
 8. An article comprising: a storagemedium; said storage medium including stored instructions that, whenexecuted by a processor, result in configuring a network device byreceiving a request at a DSL access module (DSLAM) to configure apermanent virtual circuit (PVC) between a digital subscriber line (DSL)device and said (DSLAM), said DSL device having a virtual circuit (VC)table with multiple probe values, wherein said probe value represents avirtual circuit, automatically configuring said PVC using a list ofprobe values from said VC table sent with test packets to probe forconfiguration information for said PVC, and using said configurationinformation to configure said PVC, wherein said probe values and saidconfiguration information comprise a virtual channel identifier (VCI)and a virtual path identifier (VPI), said automatically configuring saidPVC comprising sending test packets to said DSLAM using said probevalues, receiving a response packet to one of said test packets,retrieving said configuration information from said response packet, andconfiguring said PVC using said retrieved configuration information andfurther disabling each virtual circuit that does not receive a responsepacket.
 9. The article of claim 8, wherein the stored instructions, whenexecuted by a processor, result in sending test packets, for each probevalue in said VC table, by retrieving a probe value from said list ofprobe values, enabling said virtual circuit, and sending a test packetover said virtual circuit.
 10. The article of claim 8, wherein thestored instructions, when executed by a processor, further result inreceiving a request to configure a second PVC for said DSL device,receiving configuration information for said second PVC, and configuringsaid second PVC using said configuration information.
 11. The article ofclaim 8, wherein the stored instructions, when executed by a processor,further result in determining that a terminating condition has occurredprior to automatically configuring said. PVC, sending a message thatsaid PVC was not configured to a user, and receiving said configurationinformation for said PVC from a user.